Naidu seeks bankers’ support to build Amaravati into fintech hub

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday urged bankers to extend wholehearted support to develop Amaravati as a financial and fintech hub, while calling for liberal lending to agriculture, MSME and other priority sectors.

Addressing the 233rd and 234th State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meeting here immediately after his return from the four-day trip to Switzerland to participate in the World Economic Forum annual session at Davos, he proposed the development of a designated area for financial institutions in the capital region.

He said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had recently launched 15 financial institutions, including the regional office building of the Reserve Bank of India, at Amaravati, marking a major step towards strengthening the State’s financial ecosystem.

Higher lending to MSMEs and key sectors would accelerate the State’s economic growth, the Chief Minister said, noting that Rs1,108 crore had been saved through loan rescheduling. The annual credit plan for the State was also discussed during the meeting. Highlighting the need to promote institutional lending, Naidu said a lack of financial literacy continued to force many people to depend on moneylenders. He urged banks to expand credit to renewable energy, natural farming and other priority sectors, while ensuring that marginalised sections received top priority. As part of the credit plan, banks have so far extended Rs2.96 lakh crore in loans to the agriculture and allied sectors. Tenant farmers received agriculture loans worth Rs1,490 crore, while lending to MSMEs stood at Rs95,714 crore.